


Kobol’s New Gleaming

by Helis_von_Askir



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29027238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helis_von_Askir/pseuds/Helis_von_Askir
Summary: If the Cylons are so hell-bent on getting to Earth, let them. There’s a perfectly suitable planet waiting for them way back: Kobol!
Kudos: 7





	Kobol’s New Gleaming

**Author's Note:**

> I never quite understood why they never even considered going back to Kobol after New Caprica, and especially not after the algae planet. They know where it was, the Cylons don’t care about it. So why not go back? Better than following these flimsy clues to Earth with the Cylons on their tail. So here it is.

They had gotten out of the system just in the nick of time. A photo finish, Tigh wasn’t wrong about that. And they now had another clue as to where Earth might be, but so did the Cylons. And that was a problem. And Bill Adama had no idea what to do about it. Baltar claimed that they wanted it as their new home too. Where was that coming from all of a sudden?

“We need to be faster than them.” Roslin stated. They were in the Admiral’s quarters, trying to figure out their next step.

“Do we?” Lee suddenly spoke up. He looked tired, his father thought. The fighting down on the algae planet had taken its toll on him.

“Do you suggest we follow the Cylons to Earth? Allow them to find it first?” Roslin demanded to know. As Bill and Laura’s relationship had thawed and gotten better over time, the one between his son and the president had markedly cooled. Bill was not sure he liked that. He was aware that he had disapproved of them being friends in the beginning, but he had come around to it. It hurt to now see it almost gone.

“No,” Lee sighed. “I suggest we forget about Earth, turn this fleet around and go back to Kobol.”

That was met with quiet stares. It was Tigh who broke it. “I hate to say it, but isn’t the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.”

“It’s out of the question.” Laura disagreed.

“Why?” Lee wanted to know. “Because of some prophecy? We don’t even know if the people on Earth would welcome us, if the planet even exists. We know Kobol does exist, we know Kobol is habitable. We know that we can rebuild there. And we now have enough food to get us around the nebula and back there.”

“So do the Cylons.” Roslin pointed out. “What if they follow us?”

“Why would they?” Tigh asked. “You heard Baltar, they’re hell-bent on getting to Earth. I say let them. We go back to Kobol and set up there. It’s not like we have announce our intention to the toasters.”

Laura didn’t want to hear any of this. But Bill had to agree with Lee and Tigh. Kobol was a safe bet, while Earth was still a dream. And if he was honest with himself, he was tired of running. New Caprica, for all its faults had given them time to rest, short as it was, but it had not been enough, not even close. People were getting tired of running, especially after the losses of New Caprica.

“We don’t have to make a decision now.” Bill said before either of the others could say anything more. “We all are tired. Let’s get some rest and re-visit this topic tomorrow.”

Tight and Lee got the hint and left, Laura did not, or did not want to. “We need to go to Earth.” She insisted when they were alone. “That is our destiny.”

“It’s late, Laura, and we have other things to worry about too.” Bill said quietly. “We need to figure out what to do about Baltar.”

Laura made a rude sound. “Don’t remind me. Maybe the Chief should have let him die down on that planet.”

“Maybe, but he didn’t. Now he is our problem, as is the Six Athena brought back with Hera.” Bill reminded her.

Laura sighed and stood up. “You’re right, it’s late and I am tired. Let’s postpone our crisises for a few hours.”

Dee was already asleep when Lee returned to their quarters. He watched her for a few minutes before he laid down on the couch instead of the bed.

How had he managed to screw up this so bad? He loved Dee, but he also loved Kara. But what he had told Kara was true, he didn’t want to cheat on Dee, he couldn’t. Dee deserved better. And Kara wouldn’t divorce Anders because it was a sacred oath to the gods. Lee knew that Kara was a believer, unlike him, but she was wrong in saying that cheating was only bending the rules. You couldn’t have it both ways, at least Lee couldn’t.

“You can come to bed, you know.” Dee whispered from the bed.

Lee looked over at her and she looked so beautiful, half asleep and tousled. A stark reminder why he had married her in the first place. Because she was good and kind and strong, and so much more than he deserved.

Slowly he got up and joined his wife in their bed. They laid there for a moment before Dee reached out to him. “We need to figure this out.”

Lee nodded before kissing her cheek. “We will. Somehow, we will.”

“Are you serious?” Dee asked the next morning when Lee had told her of his suggestion as to where to go next.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s not without its risk, but its better than this constant race with the Cylons.” Lee explained. “Let them fly off in one direction and we head into the other.”

Dee took a moment to reply. “And we’ll never see each other again. And Kobol is better than New Caprica, I guess. But I can’t see the president go for it. Earth is the promised land to her.”

“No, me neither.” Lee agreed. “Unless someone convinces her somehow. But she really believes these prophecies.”

“I always thought that was just a political play.” Dee pointed out.

“It was. She did it to get the peoples support when Dad locked her up, but then it took on a life of its own and now she seems to be a true believer.” Lee shrugged. “It’s out of our hands anyway. Now, I need to get down to the flight deck or I’m late for CAP.”

After Lee had left, Dee got ready for her shift too, thinking about Lee’s idea all the while. And the longer she thought about, the more she liked it.

“And the XO agreed with him? That must be a first.” Gaeta said when Dee had retold her conversation from earlier that morning.

“I know, that alone is weird.” Dee agreed. “They never see eye to eye on anything.”

“It’s not a bad idea.” Gaeta muttered after a moment. “What does the Admiral think of it?”

“I don’t know. Lee didn’t say one way or another.” Dee sighed. “Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but I kind of want to go back to Kobol.”

And from there it grew. First among the crew of the Galactica, then the other ships. And many wanted to go back, settle on Kobol, stop running from the Cylons, or after the Cylons. Let them have Earth, as long as the Colonials could have a save world for themselves.

“Did you do this?” Laura wanted to know annoyed turning the wireless off. It had been a discussion about the pros and cons of going back to Kobol. The pros were in the majority.

“No, Madam President.” Lee replied calmly. “I only ever spoke about this with my wife. I’m still permitted to do that, aren’t I?”

“And you wife told her friends and they told their friends.” Laura said sarcastically. “And now we have a dangerous new movement within the fleet.”

“New? For wanting a safe place to call home? That’s not new.” Lee pointed out. Has she forgotten New Caprica so quickly? “People are tired.”

She hadn’t. “And they obviously have learned nothing from New Caprica.” Laura pointed out.

“But would it be that different on Earth?” Lee wanted to know. “We would have to fight the Cylons for it. Unless the people on Earth can wipe them out. If they take our side to begin with. The Cylons have no interest in Kobol.”

“That we know of.” Laura reminded him. “There might still be some of their forces there?”

“Again, how would that be different to Earth?” Lee asked. Why was Roslin so stubborn? Following the clue meant further battles with the Cylons. Was that prophecy worth even more losses? Kobol was just a return trip where they already knew all the stops.

“You really pissed the president off with your idea.” His father told him a few hours later, as they walked towards CIC.

“Yes, I know, she made her displeasure already known.” Lee sighed. “If I had known she hated it that much, I would have kept my mouth shut.”

“No,” his father shook his head. “It’s a good idea, it does have merit, especially from a military point of view. But she’s the president, the decision is hers.”

“I never said it wasn’t.” Lee said. “I just don’t think she’s considering all that goes with it.”

“No, me neither.” Adama agreed. “This prophecy means a lot to her. It has come to define her.”

“I don’t think that’s healthy.” Lee stated. “And we’ll have to make a decision soon.”

“Yeah,” Bill suddenly smiled at him. “But I hear things are better between you and Dee.”

Lee rolled his eyes. “We’re working on it.”

The alarm woke them in the middle of the night. They dressed on the quick and hurried to CIC where Tigh was busy shouting at a couple of marines.

“What’s going on?” Dee asked while she took her post while Lee headed to the back console to check on the alert fighters.

Lt. Hoshi shrugged. “Some prisoner got shafted while those two weren’t looking. And then whoever did it got away.”

“Prisoner? You mean Baltar?” Dee asked surprised.

“Do we have another prisoner who deserves a double guard?” Hoshi asked back. “Not that it did him any good.”

“He’s dead?” Dee inquired.

Hoshi shrugged. “They took him to Sickbay, but from what I heard it doesn’t look good.”

“Major, I need you to take over the manhunt for our killer.” Tigh announced once he had run out of insults to throw at the marines. It had taken a surprisingly long time.

“Yes, Sir. Do we have any suspects?” Lee wanted to know. He had trained with the marines long enough to command them, and frankly they were getting low on them anyway.

“Some crazy chick who claims to be his wife.” Tigh said with utter disgust. “And these two morons let her in for a visit. At least we have her on camera. Just find her and dump her ass in the brig.”

“Yes, Sir.” Lee nodded and motioned for the two marines to follow him. They had one chance to make up for their mistake.

The woman, Jeanne Keegan, according to logs, had run off into the bowls of Galactica after stabbing Baltar repeatedly. How she had managed to get the knife past the guards at the airlock and the brig was a question that would have to wait for later.

Right now they needed to find her. The problem was that no one had been in these parts of Galactica even before the attack. Even Dogsville didn’t reach that far down. Which left her with dozens of places to hide. The only thing working in their favour was that she would need food and water eventually.

“Why even bother?” Kara asked when she joined Lee where he was going over a detailed map of the area.

They had locked down all access to where she had to be, but they still would need to do a room by room search and that would take time. Especially since he only had those two marines to conduct the search with. Ever since news had gotten out about Baltar being aboard and having been stabbed the civilians were getting unruly.

“With what? Finding her? Trying to keep Baltar alive? Or that some of the civilians are still backing him?” Lee wanted to know absentminded.

“All of it, none of it.” Kara shrugged. “Cottle says it doesn’t look good.”

“That really isn’t my problem.” Lee pointed out. “So why are you here, really?”

“I’m volunteering to help you find your missing killer.” Kara informed him.

Now Lee did look up. “Okay, why?”

Kara sighed. “You’ve been avoiding me and I think we need to talk.”

“And you think it’s best we do that while we search Galactica’s bowls for a deranged killer?” Lee asked sceptical.

“If that’s what it takes.” Kara held up her newly healed hands. “Doc gave me a clean bill of health, I can hold a gun again.”

“Or deck me.” Lee pointed out.

Kara smiled. “Or deck you. But I mean it, Lee, we need to talk. I mean, I’m happy things are working out with you and Dee. But where does that leave us?”

Lee sighed. “I don’t know. I thought you would get back to Sam. You love him, don’t you?”

“I do, but I also know that marrying him was a mistake.” Kara scoffed. “He deserves far better than a screw-up like me.”

“Then shouldn’t you be having that conversation with him?” Lee wanted to know.

Kara looked uncomfortable. “You’re easier to talk to, despite everything.”

“Then you should definitely have that conversation with him.” Lee said. “We start the next part of our search tomorrow at 0500. That should give you enough time.”

“You make it sound so easy.” Kara shook her head. “What did you say to Dee?”

“Nothing that would help you with Sam, I’m afraid.” Lee sighed. “Just be honest, I guess.”

“Were you?”

Lee nodded. “As painful as it was, yes.”

“What if I don’t know what I think or feel?” Kara shook her head. “Alright, I’ll give it a try, but if it blows up in my face, I’m going to deck you, because it’s all your fault.”

Lee smiled slightly. “It usually is.”

They found her two hours before Baltar was declared dead. When she was given the news, Jeanne smiled and sat on the cot in her cell. She was too calm about the whole thing and Lee ordered the marines to not let her out of their sight, but she still managed to swallow some pills someone had hidden in her lunch. Whether she had known they were in there or not was impossible to say.

“What did the guard say?” Adama wanted to know.

“That he checked the food, but the pills seemed to have been mixed in with the algae stew and no one wants to take too close a look at that.” Lee told him. “The cook claims one of the civilians helping out prepared it and that woman has disappeared.”

Adama sighed. “Keep looking for her, though she’ll be impossible to find once she’s among the fleet.”

“Especially if she has friends hiding her.” Lee agreed and put a piece of paper on his father’s desk. “We found this among her belongings.”

Adama read the pamphlet before giving Lee an incredulous look. “They actually believe this?”

Lee shrugged. “Looks like it.”

“That’s insane.” Bill muttered.

Lee shrugged again. “What’s sane these days?”

The pamphlet was a short one, only stating that Baltar had been right in trying to make things work with the Cylons and that human stubbornness had caused New Caprica to fail. That Baltar was a prophet and that they would all be with him in the afterlife.

“Sounds like a suicide pact to me.” Roslin spoke up. She had sat on the couch silently so far. The news of her returned cancer hadn’t been made public yet, but they wouldn’t be able to hide if for long.

“We’ll keep an eye on it.” Lee said, “But if they want to die, I’m not sure we should stop them.”

“We are so few as it is.” Roslin whispered.

There was not much to say to that. Lee stood up ready to leave when Roslin stopped him with a raised hand. “There will be a vote in the Quorum tomorrow.”

“I heard.” Lee said quietly.

“It will probably go in your favour.” Roslin informed him.

Lee was taken aback. “I never thought that anyone would agree with me. It was just…an idea, a dream.”

Roslin leaned back on the couch. “And many share that dream with you. And I’m too tired to keep fighting it. But that also means that this is now your responsibility, Major. You came up with this, you see it through.”

Lee looked between Roslin and his father. “I’ll do what I can, but I’m just the CAG.”

“Oh, you are so much more than that now. People know this comes from you, from Apollo.” Roslin smiled. “I even think some decided that you’re a guided by your namesake.”

“People are really getting desperate then.” Lee pointed out. “I don’t even believe in the gods.”

“That doesn’t mean they don’t believe in you, Captain Apollo.” Roslin’s nickname for him sounded strange now. She had not used it in far too long a time. “And I need to somehow make Zarek step down as my Vice-president before I die.”

“He’s not going to give that up voluntarily.” Adama pointed out.

“No, but then someone here has enough dirt on him to make him.” Roslin looked at Lee again. “Cloud Nine might be long gone, but the black market still exists.”

Lee nodded. “Yes, and I’m keeping an eye on it, and yes, they’ll play by our rules…and yes, Zarek is in it up to his ears. But whom would you pick as his replacement?”

Roslin smiled. “My perfect candidate would be you, if you weren’t so hell-bent on doing the right thing instead of the smart thing, but I also know you don’t want it, therefore I was rather hoping your wife would be amenable to the idea of taking the job.”

“Dee?” Lee asked surprised. “She’d be great, no doubt, but I don’t know if she wants the job either. Have you talked to her?”

“Not yet, I was hoping you could soften her up first.” Roslin was all business now. “They’re both Sagittarians, so I’m not leaving myself open for attacks from that side, and she’s more than competent and resourceful, she’s proven that time and again but she’d have to leave the fleet, of course.”

Lee nodded. “I’ll talk to her, but I’m not making any promises.”

“So, since she can’t have you, she’ll take me as sloppy seconds?” Dee asked after Lee had told her of the president’s offer.

“There’s nothing sloppy or second about you.” Lee told her. “You’d be a great choice.”

“Thanks for that.” Dee gave him a quick kiss. “But I’m not sure I’m ready to leave the fleet. Does she have some other candidates?”

“A few, but you’re top on the list.” Lee said. “And no, I never was on that list. She knows politics isn’t for me. I’m too hell bent on doing the right thing, instead of doing the smar thing. Her words.”

Dee sighed. “I’ll think about it. Let’s see how the vote goes first.”

Nine out of the twelve members of the Quorum voted for returning to Kobol, eighty-two percent of the people of the fleet also voted in favour of returning to humanities birthplace. And since Zarek had been a vocal opponent to such a move he resigned in protest when Roslin gave the order to turn the fleet around.

“I’m glad I didn’t have to use your information against him. That could have gotten ugly.” She said to Lee a few days later. “But now I need an answer more than anything, Anastasia.”

“You might as well call me Dee, if we’re going to work together.” Dee replied with a chuckle. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“You’ll be great.” Lee assured her.

Laura nodded. “He’s right, and thankfully you’re a quick study.”

Lee and Dee started at her. “How long?” Lee finally asked.

“A couple of months, maybe three.” Laura replied.

“Shit.” Dee muttered. “Sorry.”

Laura smiled. “Don’t be, I feel the same way. But it can’t be helped. Just take good care of our people, both of you.”

“We will.” Lee stated.

Dee was sworn in the very next day. It was a nice if very austere ceremony. They still hadn’t made Roslin’s returned cancer official, but they couldn’t put it off much longer, she was growing visible weaker now.

“So, how does it feel, being second gentleman?” Kara teased when they got ready for CAP.

“Not bad, actually.” Lee replied with a smile. “Not bad at all.”

“And soon to be first gentleman, must be a first in the history of the colonies.” Kara continued, warming up the subject.

Lee snorted. “Presidents had husbands before, Kara. Read a history book now and then, besides I’m pretty sure dad had that spot since New Caprica.”

Kara stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on, didn’t you notice the both of them sneaking off after the ceremony? What do you think they have been doing?” Lee wanted to know.

“Not that!” Kara exclaimed. “I mean, ugh, that’s just gross.”

“What’s just gross?” Sam asked when he came over to kiss Kara. It seemed they had patched things up between them. Sam had even started to work as a specialist on the flight deck to spend more time with her. Lee expected him to apply for Basic Flight any day now.

“Parents rubbing body parts.” Lee told him with a straight face.

“Yeah, that’s gross. Walked in on mine when I was seven. Had nightmares about that for years.” Cally said when she walked by. “Whose parents are we talking about here?”

“The CAG’s.” Kara said. “He thinks the Admiral and the President are doing the nasty.”

Cally laughed. “Oh, they’re definitely doing that.”

“See?” Lee grinned. “First gentleman spot is already taken.”

Kara made an absolutely disgusted face. “We’re stopping to talk about this now. I don’t need that kind of pictures in my head.”

They stopped at New Caprica. If only to bury the dead and gather some of the resources they had to leave behind. It was dangerous, but the survivors needed this, needed to know that the dead would not be forgotten. And they did harvest some of the food that was still growing untended in the fields around the abandoned town. To put some verity into all the algae they had to eat for now.

But after ten days the fleet left the nebula again. And there was still no sign of the Cylons. But that was the extend of the good news.

“How long?” Lee asked his father when he found him at Laura’s bedside. Dee had called him that Roslin had collapsed again, during a press conference. It was out now.

Bill shook his head. “Cottle isn’t sure, a week, maybe two. Hard to say. How’s Dee holding up?”

“Better than I would have.” Lee smiled humourlessly. “She fielded those questions like she’s never done anything else. Must be all those calls she handled over the years in CIC.”

“No doubt.” Bill agreed. “I’ll go talk to her later.”

Lee squeezed his father’s shoulder. “I’ll tell her, but I’m sure she’ll be over sooner rather than later.”

“She wants to be buried on Kobol, next to Elosha.” Bill whispered.

Lee nodded. That made sense, the two women meant a lot to each other. And they had buried the priestess in a lovely clearing, though that hadn’t been part of their reasoning back then. It had been the first place they had found after she had died. “We’ll be there in less than a month. Who knows, she might live to see it yet.”

She didn’t, by one day. Laura passed away peacefully in her sleep the night before the last jump. The dying leader, destined to not see the blessed lands she led her people to. Just as the prophecy said, except that it wasn’t Earth but Kobol, but why shouldn’t Kobol be their Earth? Prophecies were such vague things, let Kobol be Earth, hadn’t they earned it?

When they reached Kobol, they sent out raptors to make sure no Cylons were there, and then they buried Laura, before anything else was done, before any settlements were started, they took her to the clearing and buried her next to Elosha.

Just her family, Bill, Lee, Kara and Dee, accompanied the priest. Laura had wanted it that way. They already had a memorial for her back on Galactica for the press and the people in the fleet. No need for them to be part of this too.

“So, what this super important thing the Admiral has to talk to me about?” Dee wanted to know when she came over from Colonial One. “And why didn’t you tell me this morning?”

“Because we didn’t know this morning.” Lee replied and gave her a quick kiss. It was a bit weird that Dee spent her nights on Galactica, but she insisted that she worked better if she had her _office_ on another ship. “Come on, let’s show you.”

He led her to his father’s quarters where the Admiral and Tigh were already pouring over stacks of print-outs.

“Is this what I think this is?” Dee asked after a few minutes.

“Shipyards.” Adama agreed. “Old and small, but still in working order. We won’t be able to build a battlestar with them, but smaller armed ships shouldn’t be a problem. I have Gaeta try to restart the computers down there, maybe we find some blueprints we can use.”

Dee snorted. “Why didn’t we find them before?”

“They’re well hidden. Hot Dog stumbled over them when he was trying to take a leak.” Tight told her bluntly.

“Thank the gods for Hot Dog and his small bladder than.” Dee muttered. “What about materials? Can we mine something?”

“There are deposits in the mountains here.” Lee indicated a spot on the southern hemisphere. “But there are some stores directly in the shipyards and they’re mostly full. We need to run some test concerning material fatigue, but if it holds up we can start in a few days.”

“Our own little fleet.” Dee smiled. “Now we only need crews to man them.”

“Oh, I think we can handle that.” Tigh said. “I’m sure people will be willing to do a tour or two once farming gets boring.”

“The first few we can man with our current crew.” Bill pointed out. “We’ll figure the rest out later. Or more accurately you two will.”

“Dad...” Lee started.

“I’m not retiring right now, Lee, but I’m I think I should head planetary defence once we get it up and running. I’m not getting any younger. And we need someone with experience for planetary defence down on the surface.” Bill interrupted him. “But Galactica will be yours.”

“Don’t look at me, boy, we all know what a mess I made of my command.” Tigh said when Lee looked at him for help. “I’ll help the old man run everything from the ground, don’t worry, but the ship’s yours.”

Lee took a deep breath and looked at his wife, who smiled at him. “Very well. Let’s make this work.”

End


End file.
